Debate:Does bias impair Wikipedia's reliability?

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Could you please give me an example of their liberal bias? I use Wikipedia all the time and it's always a reliable and in-depth encyclopedia.

Reply: There are some examples for you here. Have a great day! --SharonS 15:23, 27 December 2006 (EST)

Yes:

They censor non-Christian stuff. They're really, really biased. They only accept LIBERAL BIAS!

Please read this: Wikipedia.

No. Not always:

Simply because they are liberally biased does not always effect their reliability.

For example: I want to know President Reagan dates. I go onto Wikipedia. They will tell me. They may also tell me he was a bad president. But simply because "they" tell me that he was a bad president does not mean they are unreliable and what they told me about his dates isn’t solid fact.

Where does WIkipedia say that President Reagan was a bad president? The opening paragraphs of the article, Ronald Reagan say things like

"He strongly opposed communism and socialism, and as president he pursued policies for fewer regulations, lower taxes, free trade agreements, and welfare cutbacks."

and

"His legacies include restoring America's strength and prosperity following a period of stagflation in the wake of the Watergate scandal and the withdrawal from Vietnam, reaffirming America's commitment to free market economics, large budget deficits, rejecting Détente and escalating the Cold War with the Soviet Union through a military build-up and a firm foreign policy of "peace through strength", and peacefully ending the Cold War with Mikhail Gorbachev, including a massive reduction in nuclear arms."

and

"In several recent ratings of American presidents, Ronald Reagan ranked high."

Dpbsmith 16:35, 24 January 2007 (EST)

Now, (still on Wikipedia) I want to know about Jesus. I look Him up in that little search engine, and what do I get? Junk. Because He’s controversial in today’s world. Almost everyone has a blind side to controversial issues. This does not make Wikipedia bad, it merely shows that they are human.

In addition, (to the comment that Wikipedia censors Christian things) Conservepedia is biased against liberals and Islam. We probably censor things that we believe are wrong. Doesn't that affect our reliability?

I am not defending Wikipedia, I am just saying that it is often a reliable resource.

-this is fun!- --Katie 23:55, 17 January 2007 (EST)

Like any wiki will be when it is that big, wikipedia definately hase some unreliable content, yet wikipedia is still mostly reliable.

--BenjaminS 23:02, 24 January 2007 (EST)

Just because they have terms on everything doesn't mean that they are unreliable. Infact I bet that people will be putting just as much stuff on Conservapedia soon.

WIkipedia has certain kinds of reliability problems, but they relate mostly to its being a Wiki that anybody can edit.

I don't think it has problems because of bias. In fact, I believe that in practice the neutrality policy usually results in articles that represent all points of view, at least in the sense of mentioning their existence and linking to other information.

For example, if someone goes to the article on Evolution, they will see that it has section on "Social and religious controversies," which in turn links to a long article on Creation-evolution controversy. There is also a long article on Creationism. Wikipedia acknowledges the controversy, even in its main article on evolution, and doesn't try to hide it.

Wikipedia should not be trusted uncritically. Neither should other encyclopedias. Wikipedia is sometimes better than other encyclopedias in showing the sources where it got its information. Dpbsmith 17:26, 26 January 2007 (EST)